THE ROW OF THE MILLENNIUM

By CHARLES W. BELL

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS|

Jan 17, 1998 | 12:00 AM

LONDON THE RULING Labor Party of Prime Minister Tony Blair is up to its stiff upper lip in a religious row that combines, of all things, Mickey Mouse and the millennium. The issue is the role and place of Christianity in the celebration of the year 2000. So far, only the Church of England has raised the issue, but this is one of those arguments that other denominations almost certainly will join as the big day draws closer. And not only in England. The background: The government is planning to spend $1.

2 billion on a project called the Millennium Experience, a kind of theme park exhibition to celebrate Britain's history, art, culture and people since the year A.

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D. 1. It is, the government boasts, the largest and most expensive millennium project anywhere, and so far, nobody is arguing. Housed in a huge, futuristic dome in suburban Greenwich, the home of the observatory that gave the world Greenwich Mean Time, the project is so important that Blair named a cabinet minister to oversee it. The minister, Peter Mandelson, went to Disney World to get some ideas, and there, after posing for photographers in a Mickey Mouse hat, he announced that he had decided to adopt some Disney touches. A street parade, for one thing. That's where the Church of England beef started. Anglican bishops hit the sanctuary roof when they heard, from Mandelson's aides, that the project would not emphasize the role of Christianity but would instead include it in an exhibit honoring all religions. The bishops and their allies said that this was wrong because the millennium is a Christian milestone, and that, moreover, Britain's heritage is Christian. (The temporal head of the Church of England is always the reigning king or queen). "We even date ourselves by anno Domini, the year of our Lord," a church spokesman said. "Even the leaders of other faiths recognize this.

" Soon, newspaper editorials took up the cause, and none of them supported Mandelson's multi-faith approach. "It will be an extraordinary, absurd, almost blasphemous thing if Britain chooses to commemorate the 2,000th birthday of Jesus Christ with a nationalized version of Mickey Mouse," fumed the conservative Daily Telegraph. Bishop Gavin Reid of Maidstone, the Church of England's representative on the millennium project planning board, said making other faiths as prominent as Christianity was wrong. "There has been a great deal of talk about spirituality at the Dome," he said, "but, it is important that this is not a substitute for content that is clearly Christian.

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" To many people, the millennium is the party of the century and from New York to Sydney, Australia, the celebration plans emphasize the party theme. In Times Square, for example, giant TV screens will show people around the world celebrating from 7 a.

m. (in the South Pacific) to midnight (in the Big Apple). Even in Jerusalem, where officials expect 8 million to 12 million tourists on Dec. 31, 1999, they aren't making much of a fuss about the birthday of Jesus. This is, after all, a country where the calendar year reads 5758. So far, only the Vatican is making it a wholly Christian celebration, with the Pope John Paul, now 77 and growing feebler determined to lead it. He plans to start the celebration by knocking down a special brick door in St. Peter's Basilica. Other denominations have not announced specific millennium plans, but most of them will do something. MEANWHILE, AS THE Anglican complaints piled up, Mandelson's aides said that he was considering a change in the millennium project to include two chapels one for Christians and another for everyone else. But don't count on Mickey Mouse at either chapel.